City governments across the United States are struggling to keep housing and services affordable for lower-income households as neighborhood conditions improve in previously disinvested areas. Despite considerable fiscal and political constraints, numerous cities are tackling this challenge through policy tools that protect the stock of low-cost housing and support lower-income residents’ ability to remain in place when reinvestment raises the threat of displacement. Drawing on a framework informed by theories of equity planning, the Just City, and redistributive policy action, this study examines how cities are mitigating displacement in neighborhoods at risk of gentrification and analyzes the conditions that motivate, facilitate, and shape their policy responses. Data were collected through an original survey of housing, planning, and community development officials, a systematic review of policy documents, and semi-structured interviews with city officials and community advocates. Through sequential quantitative and qualitative analyses, I show that although city governments possess and are using diverse tools to create more equitable outcomes in neighborhoods at risk of gentrification, their tendency to delay action until market appreciation is advanced, dependence on market-based tools amid fiscal constraint, and need to balance neighborhood-based and city-wide goals weaken their capacity to tackle displacement. This study concludes that proactive approaches that address reinvestment and long-term affordability concurrently would minimize the tensions associated with the timing, form, and scale of intervention. Cities’ demonstrated responsiveness to community organizing suggests one key channel through which such a policy shift could be activated.

The 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act contained the largest federal initiative for place-based investment in over half a century. Opportunity Zones (“OZs”) are expected to cost the US government over $15 billion in forgone tax revenue through 2026, exceeding both the Clinton Era Empowerment Zones and the Great Society programs of Lyndon Johnson. Have OZs increased neighborhood investment and, if so, what types of projects and neighborhoods have benefitted? This dissertation presents three baseline evaluations of OZ. The first essay discusses the findings from 76 interviews with community and government officials, program managers, developers, businesses, and fund managers about OZ outcomes in West Baltimore. The second essay uses a difference-in-differences (DID) event study framework, an adjusted interrupted time series analysis, and census tract matching techniques to compare small business and residential lending outcomes in OZs with areas that were eligible but not designated. The final essay combines an online search for OZ supported affordable housing projects, a DID design that examines Low-Income Housing Tax Credit outcomes, and 16 interviews with community development experts to evaluate whether and how OZ is having an impact on affordable housing production. These three analyses show that OZ is a missed opportunity. OZ is stimulating investment conversations and local government capacity, but it is failing at oversight and community engagement and not changing outcomes for distressed community development or affordable housing. OZ is failing because it provides weak incentives for capital gains investors seeking market rate returns, because it does not support investors and developers already active in distressed neighborhoods, and because of several related design flaws that inhibit mission driven development. The essays propose specific policy changes necessary for OZ to encourage investment in highly distressed neighborhoods and to support affordable housing production.

Thesis (MBA (Business Management))--Stellenbosch University, 2008. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study focuses on the inclusionary housing policy (IHP), a concept introduced to incorporate the private sector in actively contributing to the delivery of affordable housing as a by-product of higher income housing delivery, in an effort to promote socio-economic integration and to eradicate informal housing by 2014. The IHP stipulates that between 0% to 30% of new residential developments, measured in units, need to be inclusionary in nature. This means that a unit may be sold from R50,000 to R350,000 or rented for R600 to R3,000 per month to beneficiaries earning between R1,500 and R7,500 gross income per month. The policy will be implemented in a phased manner with two complimentary strategies, namely the town planning compliant approach and the Voluntary pro-active deal driven approach. To off set financial burdens, the government has made available six incentives and the concepts of off site compliance and inclusionary stock credits. The national government has set the requirements and parameters of the inclusionary elements and based on this a number of the possible effects that this IHP might have on residential developments, when looking at the interactions of supply, demand and price,were discussed as well as the views of industry experts. Inclusionary housing will result in social benefits but unwanted social costs as well. Benefits and costs were discussed and even though this policy is not Pareto efficient, based on the Kaldor-Hicks criterion, it is efficient in that the members of society that are made worse off can be compensated by the beneficiaries due to the fact that surrounding property prices that may rise and developers get incentives they would otherwise not have had access to. This study also looked internationally at the key success factors that were identified in case studies focussing on the United States of America, United Kingdom, Malaysia and China. From this international study, recommendations were made for South Africa's IHP. Because of various cultures and economies, success factors can not purely be copied but the recommendations should add to sustainable inclusionary developments. Ad hoc recommendations, also inferred from international lessons learnt, were discussed briefly and based on the above findings and recommendations, the accusations made by industry experts were readdressed. Although some areas still remain grey, many were found to be questionable. No concrete inferences can be made from this study pertaining to the supply, demand or price of residential developments but the following predictions can be made. The IHP is not necessarily going to drive property prices down and the requirements may be accepted by higher income households and therefore socio-economic integration may be successful in South Africa. This is only if the policy remains in its current form and not become law. This is in order to adapt to changing external variables and to incorporate success factors as they become known; if the IHP gets implemented transparently; if suggestions are incorporated from all stakeholders i.e. beneficiaries, developers, governmental spheres and third parties such as financial institutions and if this policy is phased into the market timeously. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die studie fokus op die insluitende behuising beleid (IBB), 'n konsep wat bekend gestel is om die privaat sektor aktief betrokke te maak by die voorsiening van lae koste behuising as 'n by-produk van die voorsiening van hoër inkomste behuising in 'n poging om sosio-ekonomiese integrasie te bevorder en informele behuising teen 2014 te verwyder. Die IBB bepaal dat tussen 0% en 30% van nuwe residensiële ontwikkelings, gemeet in eenhede, insluitend van aard moet wees wat beteken dat eenhede vir tussen R50,OOO tot R300,000 verkoop en verhuur vir tussen R600 en R3,000 per maand aan begunstigdes wat tussen R1,000 tot R7,000 bruto inkomste per maand verdien. Die beleid sal trapsgewys toegepas word met twee komplimentêre strategieë naamlik 'n vrywillige pro-aktiewe gedrewe benadering en 'n dorpsbeplanning voldoeningsbenadering. Om finansiële belassings te voorkom het die regering ses aansporingsbonusse beskikbaar gestel en die konsepte van lewering op ander land en insluitende handels krediete. Die nasionale regering het die vereistes en limiete van die insluitende elemente bepaal en gegrond op dit is 'n aantal van die moontlike uitkomste, wat die IBB op residensiële ontikkelings mag hê, gegrond op die interaksie tussen aanbod, vraag en prys, bespreek asook die sieninge van sektor deskundiges. Insluitende behuising sal sosiale voordele en ongewenste sosiale nadele tot gevolg het. Voordele en nadele was bespreek en alhoewel die beleid nie Pareto optimaal is nie is dit effektief gegrond op die Kaldor-Hicks kriterium deurdat die lede van die samelewing wat slegter af gemaak word, gekompenseer kan word deur die begunstigdes deur eiendomspryse wat kan styg en ontwikkelaars wat aansporingbonusse ontvang wat hulle andersins nie toegang tot sou gehad het nie. Die studie het ook internasionaal gekyk na sukses faktore wat geidentifiseer was deur te kyk na gevalle studies wat gedoen is in Verenigde State van Amerika, Verenigde Koningkryk, Maleisië en China. Aanbevelings vir Suid-Afrika se ISS, algelei van die internasionale gevalle studies, is gemaak. As gevolg van verskillende kulture en ekonomiese faktore kan sukses faktore nie bloot gedupliseer word nie maar die aanbevelings behoort by te dra tot volhoubare insluitende ontwikkelings.

The federal Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program, authorized in 1986, has gained recognition over the last decade as America's largest place-based subsidized housing production program. The Qualified Census Tract (QCT) provision of the LIHTC program awards developers for projects built in high-poverty neighborhoods. This research examines whether the QCT provision is deconcentrating poverty or instead perpetuating it by comparing QCTs with LIHTC projects against QCTs with no LIHTC projects. In this study, a socioeconomic index is created to examine changes in socioeconomic variables (poverty, income, unemployment, and education) using 1990 Decennial Census data and 2005-2009 American Community Survey data for the twenty most populated MSAs in the United States to determine how LIHTC projects have changed the landscape of poverty in urban QCTs. Control and target groups were established to analyze the impact of LIHTC projects in QCTs. The control group consists of QCTs with no LIHTC projects and the target group contains QCTs with LIHTC projects. In order to determine how the socioeconomic variables have changed over the last fifteen years, the percent change from 1990 to 2005-2009 was calculated for each tract. Independent Sample T-tests were conducted at the national level, MSA level, and county level (when the sample size was large enough) using SPSS to determine if the difference in the target group's derived socioeconomic index and variables were significantly different from the control group. The findings indicate the target groups overwhelmingly outperformed the control groups for the socioeconomic index and every variable except unemployment. The results of this study may be valuable for policymakers to develop thresholds and guidelines for future LIHTC development in areas concentrated by poverty. / by Rebecca J. Walter. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2012. / Includes bibliography. / Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2012. Mode of access: World Wide Web.